This invention relates generally to baseball accessories for aiding a batter in properly gripping and controlling a baseball or softball bat and for protecting a batter's hand from bruising or injury, including bone bruise injuries. More particularly, this invention relates to a pad worn over the thumb and between the thumb and forefinger for aiding a batter in gripping a bat.
In order for a batter to properly grasp a baseball bat, the batter should place the bat handle diagonally across an open hand, then grasp the bat primarily with the fingers, and not with the palm of the hand. The index finger and the middle finger are particularly important in grasping a bat. Grasping the bat primarily with the fingers instead of the palm not only aids the batter in controlling the bat, but it helps the batter more securely grasp the bat. A grip using primarily the fingers thus increases leverage, bat control and placement, and bat speed, thus allowing a more powerful and accurate batting stroke. If a bat is grasped deep in the palm of the hand, and if the bat rests back in the area between the thumb and index finger, the batter is not likely to have proper control of the bat, the bat may wiggle or slide between the fingers and into the palm area between the thumb and index finger, and the batter's leverage, bat control and placement, and bat speed and power may be reduced.
A strong shock or sting is often sent through a bat to a batter's hand when the batter hits a ball off the thin portion of the bat or off the end of the bat. This shock can bruise the batter's hand, particularly the area of the palm (typically near or at the base of the thumb) and index finger (typically near or at the base of the index finger). Many batters develop a bruise near or at the joint of the thumb and the hand or near or at the joint of the index finger and the hand. These bruises can interfere with a batter's game, can be painful, and can linger for an extended or permanent period of time due to periodically recurring shocks to the same area of the hand.
Many devices are known in the art to reduce the effect of the shock from hitting a baseball off the wrong spot on a bat. Some of these devices include batting gloves, which dull shocks from hitting a baseball, and pads to cushion the area between the thumb and index finger. One such pad is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,043. This patent discloses a cushion with a ring to fit over the thumb and an elongated portion to cushion the palm between the thumb and forefinger. FIGS. 1, 2, 5, and 7 of the present application illustrate a pad similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,043.
As can best be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pad of U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,043 consists of an elongated member 10 having a ring portion 12 containing an opening 14 to fit over a batter's thumb and a flap portion 16 extending from the ring portion 12 to cushion the area between the batter's thumb and index finger. FIG. 5 illustrates the ring portion 12 of the member 10 fitting over the batter's thumb 30. When this pad is in use, the flap portion 16 of the pad extends to the index finger 34 of the batter's hand. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower surface 18 of the member 10 is relatively flat. The upper surface 20 of the member 10 on the flap portion 16 is curved. When the batter squeezes the bat 40, as shown in FIG. 7, the lower surface 18 of the member 10 contacts the bat 40 and pushes the bat 40 away from the palm area 32 of the batter's hand and toward the batter's fingers, referred to collectively as 36.
Although the batting pad of U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,043 serves its purpose in general, it has a number of disadvantages. FIG. 5 of the present application illustrates this batting pad in the batter's hand without the bat 40 tightly gripped and FIG. 7 illustrates this batting pad with the batter gripping the bat 40. Because of the length of the member 10, particularly from the ring portion 12 to the tip 22 of the flap portion 16, the typical batter must compress and bend the flap portion 16 to tightly grip the bat 40. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the member 10 is not thick enough to push the bat 40 far enough toward the fingers 36 to allow the batter to easily grip the bat 40 with the fingers 36 instead of with the palm of the hand.
Another disadvantage of the batting pad of U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,043 is that it forces a batter to grip the bat 40 and batting pad somewhat tightly to securely grip the bat 40. As FIG. 7 illustrates, the batting pad must be compressed in length to allow the fingers 36 to wrap around the bat 40 to secure the batter's grip. FIG. 7 shows the movement of the index finger 34 and entire hand to adequately secure the bat 40 when this batting pad is used.
A need exists for a batting pad to cushion the area between the batter's thumb 30 and index finger 34 that optimizes the batter's grip of a bat, reduces the slop in a batter's grip so that the bat and pad fit snugly in the batter's hand, enables the batter to easily grip the bat with the fingers instead of with the palm of the hand, and that is properly shaped to allow the batter to easily grip the bat in a more technically favorable position with only slight movements of the batter's fingers.